S6DJ - Prologue
by Cathook
Summary: The beginning of a project to try and answer the question of what Daniel Jackson was doing during the year when he was ascended. This is the prologue to said project, and it retells Daniel's experiences during the episode Meridian, leading up to his ascension.


There's a bit of information that should go with this story (or rather a continuing project it is a part of), but since I suppose you are here because you want to read the story I'll give the short version here and a longer at the bottom.

**Time line:** Set during season 5 episode _Meridian _(5:21).

**Summary: **The beginning of a project to try and answer the question of what Daniel Jackson was doing during the year when he was ascended. This is the prologue to said project, and it retells Daniel's experiences during the episode _Meridian_,leading up to his ascension.

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**S6DJ – Prologue**

The last ten hours had been pure hell for Daniel Jackson. One single heroic action had landed him in bigger trouble than ever; quickly dying from radiation poisoning. Not that he saw it that way, despite his friends and teammates taking turns in sitting by his bedside and ensuring him of the importance of his life. To him it was just another idiotic attempt to do the right thing that had gone irreversibly wrong.

During these last hours of his life Daniel drifted in and out of consciousness, much due to the strong sedatives and painkillers Dr. Janet Frasier was feeding him. He knew it was the best she could do for him, and as the pain got worse he grew ever more thankful to her efforts to keep him comfortable.

When he suddenly went from seizing in his bed in the infirmary isolation room to strolling into the gate-room, he thought for a moment that the pain was making him delirious. As he laid eyes on the woman waiting for him on the ramp the hope was lit though – that there was something more going on. As always she spoke in riddles, telling him that his fate was in his hands even though the situation clearly said the opposite.

Jack came to sit with him, and to Daniel's surprise he clumsily tried to tell him how he felt. Daniel appreciated it, especially since touchy-feely talking wasn't really the colonel's thing, but soon his mind was slipping away again.

"Oma," he whispered.

As he spoke to the ascended woman Daniel quickly realized the extraordinary gift that Oma Desala was offering him. But when she told him that he was the only one who could judge whether he was worthy or not his heart sank. In his mind he had never really achieved anything that would make him worthy.

Everything he had done had come with a dark and bitter aftertaste. Everything he had ever really strived for he had failed. He had opened the Stargate to the universe, but had made powerful enemies to Earth in the process. He was still the laughing stock of the archaeological society, despite being right all along. He had found the one and only love of his life, but had brought destruction on her through his insatiable curiosity. Despite his promises of finding her he hadn't been able to save her from the parasite that had taken her as host. The Goa'uld were still ruling strong across the Milky Way. And after briefly being reunited with his old friend Sarah he had witnessed her being taken away as well, by another Goa'uld none the less.

"I couldn't save Sha're. I couldn't save Sarah," he bitterly told Oma.

She reasoned with him, tried to tell him that his life could not be measured in the results of his actions. He didn't really listen. His mind was made up from a lifetime of failure. Then she finally said something that caught his attention.

"The universe is vast, and we are so small. There is really only one thing we can ever truly control."

"What's that?" he asked wearily, but slightly curious.

"Whether we are good or evil."

Daniel was brought from his conversation with Oma by a strange sensation in his deteriorating body. Sam's father Jacob – and Selmak – were there, healing him with a Goa'uld healing device. It was time to make a choice. If he let Jacob continue he could survive, but he would miss out on everything Oma was offering. Suddenly it all became clear. His death was not a tragedy but an opportunity, a stepping stone to something beyond this mortal life, and Daniel wanted it.

"I'm ready to go with you," he told Oma.

Daniel's mind was already free from his body and he easily found his way into the infirmary isolation room. _This must be what an outer body experience feels like_, he thought as he walked around among the group of people gathered at his sick bed. Janet stood by his left side, ready to act if necessary. General Hammond was at the head of the bed. Teal'c stood a bit off to the side, a solemn look in his usually stoic face. Sam was next to her father at his right side, and Jack… Jack stood closest to the door looking at war with hope and resignation. It would have to be him, it always was him.

Daniel laid his hand on Jack's shoulder and to his own surprise easily brought his friend with him into the gate-room in his mind.

"Daniel."

Jack seemed to accept the sudden transportation with his typical casual observation. Daniel was stumped though. _Now what do I say? How do I explain what I want him to do? _Jack helped him on the way, with just a hint of his usual humor:

"Did you want something?"

Daniel told him to tell Jacob to stop the healing, and he tried to explain that he moving on didn't mean that he was giving up. He could tell Jack wasn't buying it. Oma watched from up on the ramp as he tried to convince his friend that he wasn't going to die, that everything was going to be okay. Then she morphed into her glowing octopus form, probably doing more to show Jack what Daniel was heading towards than all his explaining ever could. She floated up the ramp and disappeared into a wormhole that formed as she touched the Stargate.

"I think I can do more this way," Daniel said.

He could tell Jack wasn't happy with his choice, but as the best friend Daniel had ever had he respected his wish. He could feel the tension in the isolation room as Jack told Jacob to stop healing him. The rest of them must have thought he'd gone mad to tell them to just let their friend die. Jack insisted that it was his will and Jacob reluctantly lowered the healing device. Immediately Daniel felt his body failing again. Then it happened.

His heart stopped and the monitor sounded its high pitched warning signal. He knew Janet must be itching to do something about it, but just a moment later a surge of energy flowed through Daniel's limbs as the power of his mind transcended the physical bonds of his body. The rush of power and awareness was almost overwhelming as his being took the tell-tale octopus shape of an ascended. Drawn by the possibilities of the universe opening up to him Daniel rose towards the ceiling, but before he left he turned his mind back to Jack to say goodbye.

"I'm gonna miss you guys."

"Yeah, you too."

Jack's crooked smile made tears well up in Daniel's eyes. He thanked him, for everything, and hoped Jack understood the magnitude of what he meant to him. He was the truest friend Daniel had ever known. He had been with him through everything. He had lied to keep Daniel safe with Sha're and her people when he returned from Abydos without him. He had taken him in when he had lost her to the Goa'uld and he had stood by his side as Daniel searched the galaxy to save her. Daniel knew that what he had done for him today was breaking Jack's heart, but that he had done it because _he_ had asked him to.

He could see Jack was fighting to keep it together as he asked where he was going, and whether they would be seeing each-other again. He wished he could give him a better answer than 'I don't know', but the journey ahead was beyond his imagination. So with those final unsatisfying words Daniel walked up the ramp to the open Stargate and stepped through the event horizon, towards what he hoped would be his biggest adventure yet.

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Thank you for reading!

Here follows more information on the continuation of this project. Read on if you're interested, don't if you're not. Please review either way. :)

As I stated above, this is the beginning of a project to explore what Daniel Jackson might have been up to during the year when he was ascended. It will take the form of a series of stories, and the time line will run parallel with season six of _Stargate SG-1_. It will stick to canon, so I will be touching down in the episodes where Daniel Jackson makes appearances in the show.

This project will explore what Daniel does and learns while he is ascended; about the other ascended beings like Oma Desala, about the limitations of his new ascended life and how he learns to walk that thread thin line of non-interference, and finally and inevitably how he is pushed towards his actions in _Full Circle_, resulting in him descending.

New stories will be posted when they are mainly done, to make sure all the chapters of the episode can be posted in close succession. All stories in this series will be marked with _S6DJ_ (_Season 6 Daniel Jackson_), to tell them apart from other random Stargate stories that demand that I write them and post them. :)

Are you with me? Please review or PM to let me know if you're interested in reading the rest of this project. I'll be writing it either way, but it's always nice to know if there's any point to posting it here. And also I crave those reviews. **Moahahaha**… mine is an evil laugh. ;)


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